When it comes to training, nutrition and overall well-being, do you find yourself in the same patterns, time and time again? Do the phrases “this always happens” or “I just can’t get past (insert appropriate issue)” come up frequently in your conversations?
We have all heard the saying “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.”
As human beings we are creatures of habit. And habits are constructed, even in modern day, to serve the need within our ancient brains to feel good. We like to do more of the things that make us feel good, ideally as quickly as possible.
But regardless of our need to feel good, we each also carry with us an upper limit which usually develops in early childhood before we can even think for ourselves.
Think of it like we all have an internal gauge that determines how much love and success we allow ourselves to enjoy in every aspect of our lives. The reasons that cause these limits might vary from person to person, but we all have them.
We need to be aware, not only that we have upper limits but that when we start to get close to them, when we start to feel like we are making progress, getting close to reaching our goals, everything is going swimmingly well, we see that progress stalls or is sabotaged.
I’ll give you a personal example.
I’ve been training really hard since December, and right now my training and nutrition are at the same intensity as they are when I am competing. At this point, I would probably be about 3 weeks out from a competition.
I work really well with my coach. I update him daily on how I’m feeling, provide videos on all my workouts with my own analysis of lifts and where I need to improve, track all my food and water, make sure I get 8hrs sleep a night and am diligently following the process. I’ve got goals and I am determined to get there!
Then the past two days, I’ve hit a bump in the road, when I started to feel emotional and exhausted (and its not cycle related!). I feel like I am juggling a lot and the wheels are about to come off.
So firstly, I reached out to my coach, told him how I was feeling. I didn’t need anything from him. I was just observing what was going on and I was going to sit with it for a couple of days and see how I felt.
And then it hit me……I ALWAYS feel like this when I am 3 weeks out from a show. Always.
So while there are some very real reason, like high training intensity and moderate food intake, that I can feel this way, it has become my habit and my comfort zone to hit this wall.
I reach an upper limit where I feel things are going well, TOO WELL and I start to sabotage my own great work, by letting my negative mindset take over and the doubts set in.
Today, I took some time out in the sunshine to really acknowledge that this habit that is stopping me from reaching my goals.
Just because things are going well, doesn’t mean I need to be waiting for the other shoe to drop! I have been working really hard, so things are going well because I’ve been putting in the effort consistently! There is no automatic “downside” just because things are feeling good.
So, now it's time to tackle the process with a different approach, a shift in mindset. Otherwise, it's just insanity!
My question for you this week is where are you upper limiting yourself? How you are sabotaging your own progress?
You deserve all that you dream of. You have everything inside you to be able to achieve your goals. Its time to get out of your own way and start to change your habits for the better!
If you want to learn more about upper limits and how to over come them, I would highly recommend “The Big Leap” by Gay Hendricks for your reading list.